Tears flow freely as police bid farewell to slain fellow officers

    

Police carry coffins containing the bodies of the slain police officers as well as that of a security guard,all of whom were killed by a gunman in the Selander Bridge area of Dar es Salaam on Wednesday. The farewell ceremony was held at Kurasini in the city yesterday. PHOTO | SUNDAY GEORGE

Dar es Salaam. Tears, sadness and shock dominated in Kurasini, Dar es Salaam, yesterday as police officers and other residents gathered in a ceremony to pay final

respects to fellow police officers who were shot dead in the city last Wednesday.

Three policemen and private security guard were killed by a gun man who was later identified as Hamza Hassan Mohamed - and who was also shot dead by the police in the same place. The police are still investigating.

The bodies of the four arrived at the Kilwa Road Police Hospital grounds for the tributes.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Mr George Simbachawene; the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Mr Amos Makalla, and the Inspector General of Police, Mr Simon Sirro, led the mourners of the deceased during the event.

The killed police officers were Miraji Singai (46), Emmanuel Keralyo (23) and Jackson Kangaye (26). The killed security guard from the private security group SGA was identified as Joseph Mpondo (48).

According to the police, Singai will be buried in Karatu, while Emmanuel will be laid to rest in Mkuranga. Keralyo will be buried in Katavi, while Mpondo will be buried in Singida.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Simbachawene said the government will investigate and provide details of what happened and make recommendations for the future.

“We lost our young people who were working to protect our citizens. There is a lesson for to learn, and this tragic event should not be ignored or taken for granted,” he said.

The minister commended Tanzanians for remaining calm and being cooperative after the incident.

“Let us continue to protect our country and our property. As the IGP told us we need to provide information on our children’s behaviour. This will help the police force to react before such problems occur. When this incident happened, everyone explained differently on how they knew Hamza,” he said.

IGP Simon Sirro said “the police is there to protect Tanzanians with their properties and that is why we have took oath to die of gunshot wounds. But there is something to learn for mourners. Once you are living with criminals in your family it is a problem for fellow Tanzanians.”

He urged parents and families to make sure they raise children to become good leaders and not become criminals.

“In this incident there is something to learn. These officers were neither terrorists, thieves nor robbers but died while protecting Tanzanians. Their death is for Tanzanians, so we should pray for them as they were doing for Tanzanians.

“Police officers have also something to learn from incident. I always tell them not to trust anyone. When they saw Hamza, they knew he was a good person … There are lessons to learn and know that not everyone is a good person,” he said.

Explaining further, he said: “We have lost such young people but there are lessons. It’s high time the police force increased knowledge on how to identify criminals at earlier stage.

“Sometimes we are told we are not doing justice and we are using excessive force but after this incident no one is talking about police justice which means we are not supposed to have double standards. This job is a very difficult task and one can see that it is easy to deal with criminals but it’s not a small thing,” he insisted.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Amos Makalla said the deceased were fulfilling their duties of protecting the country and people’s properties. “I went to hospital and talked to injured persons and they explained to me the whole incidence and they are doing well. It suffices to say the killed officers are heroes,” he said.

“I call upon the public to be calm while the police force and other security organs continue with investigation.

“In the Dar es Salaam, this incident has touched us all. We contribute Sh6 million and the IGP will distribute to the families of the deceased,” he said.

In another development, the police in Mbeya Region confirmed the arrest of five people who are relatives of the late Hamza Mohamed who reside in Chunya District.

Mbeya Regional Police Commander Ulrich Matei said yesterday that the arrested persons have already been transported to Dar es Salaam for further questioning.

“We have arrested his relatives so that they can be interrogated and dispel misunderstandings and allegations that police officers robbed him of gold which he was selling it in Dar es Salaam,” he said.

He added that preliminary investigative reports show that the deceased was stressed as he invested more than Sh400 million in the area that was used for gold mining which is said to have not paid him.

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Reported by Catherine Mmbaga, Julius Maricha and Gadiosa Lamtey